How Apple Found 50 Acres in Cupertino and Why They Paid for It

Michele Chandler reporting for the San Jose Mercury News:

Jobs was most likely speaking plainly when he told the Cupertino City Council that Apple ended up spending more than it would have liked to acquire the land. The assessed value of the 50 acres Apple is buying tops $160 million, according to property records. Apple would not comment on the purchase process.

But the purchase price is just the beginning. By the time Apple flattens the site’s old-style structures and builds new offices for as many as 3,500 employees — a process the company expects to take about four years — Apple could easily have spent $500 million, two real estate experts predict. That would make the company’s second campus one of the costliest Silicon Valley commercial ventures in recent memory.

(Via Infinite Loop.)

★ Wednesday, 26 April 2006